Interpol look back on ‘Antics’ as they announce 20th anniversary reissue: “We flew a little closer to the sun”
Interpol have announced a reissue and livestream to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their seminal second album ‘Antics’. Check out the details below, along with our interview with frontman Paul Banks – who also told us about progress on the band’s new “rock” album.
The NYC indie icons have just kicked off a European and UK tour where they’ll be playing their 2004 second album in full, and have now marked 20 years from the release of the record by announcing an expanded edition.
The album, following on from their seminal debut ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’, contained the singles and indie disco staples ‘Slow Hands’ and ‘Evil’, alongside fan favourites ‘C’mere’ and ‘Narc’. The record cemented the band’s success and went on to become a classic of the era. It led to the group signing to a major label for the mainstream success of their third album ‘Our Love To Admire’.
The band and Matador Records have today (September 25) shared a newly expanded reissue available on digital services (including new-to-streaming and digital exclusive B-side ‘Direction’, and will this Friday (27) be streaming the band’s legendary, never-seen before 2005 performance at Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes. Watch ‘Slow Hands’ from the show above.
Then, fans can expect a made-to-order triple LP vinyl box set that includes the album, a 30-page booklet, and the complete Palacio de los Deportes concert (expected to arrive in early 2025), as well as a limited-edition single LP red vinyl reissue available at record stores worldwide (available from October 18 in the US and Canada, and October 25 elsewhere). Pre-order it here.
A limited tri-color LP in red, white and green will also be exclusive to Mexico and sold at a Matador Records pop-up at Vavava CDMX in Mexico City from November 9-14.
“The fandom is particularly intense in Central and South America – in Mexico especially so,” frontman Paul Banks told NME. “That’s the most intense audience we have. It informs our popularity that I finished high school there and we have a lot of friends there. It goes back to before the band even formed. Maybe culturally there’s something celebratory in our music that’s in sync with them.
“They bring it hard everywhere in Latin America; they’re big fans of the rock.”
Speaking of the Palacio de los Deportes show, Banks recalled: “We had a super enthusiastic audience, and were lucky to have opted to record it in super hi-fidelity audio. It was shot but lost and damaged, and now we have this show from the ‘Antics’ era to celebrate. Every show in Mexico is badass.”
Check out our full interview with Banks below, where he shares his memories of the hard-partying era, coming out the other side, and what Interpol have in store next…
NME: Hello Paul. You just kicked off the ‘Antics’ 20th anniversary tour. How are you feeling?
Paul Banks: “Great. I enjoy doing this type of show. It’s a less rare offering nowadays, but I like the idea of a new way to package a live music experience. For people that are passionate about our records, it’s very satisfying. I went to see Trans Am play ‘Future World’ in this manner, plus I think Mogwai have done a couple of these types of shows that I would have liked to have seen.
“It’s a trip to play these songs live in a sequence that we wouldn’t usually. It’s interesting to muse on the way about how the way a record plays may not be the way you’d choose for a live performance. That’s what gives it a bit of charm: these ebbs and flows of a 45-minute record. We’d probably build the energy topography of a live set a little differently.”
Having toured to celebrate the anniversary of ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’, did you find your relationship to that record changed?
“Some of these songs are always with us when we play live. Honestly, there’s nothing that’s really unrepresented from the first two records. It was just fun to experience the arc of the record.”
Interpol are often misrepresented as this doomy goth band, but there’s a lot of light and warmth on ‘Antics’. How did that sound and feel come together?
“That’s a good question. It was a fairly organic and not-contrived evolution of where we were with our songwriting. I’d like to say that we were pushing back on these labels of being super dour in the first round, but I’m not sure how much that would have actually had an impact on the material that we then wrote for ‘Antics’. We had a lot of ‘Antics’ written by the end of the ‘Bright Lights’ tour, so it was almost like a continuation.
“I know what you mean. A song like ‘Not Even Jail’ has more of a sunny disposition, ‘Next Exit’ certainly does and maybe even ‘Narc’. We just stretched out into some new feelings.”
Were you shitting yourselves at the time, at the idea of living up to what you’d already achieved?
“Not in a bad way. We were playing some version of ‘C’Mere’ while were touring ‘Bright Lights’ and had a couple of other songs that were as strong as anything on our first record already. It’s so much easier if you’re relying on three other people who are bringing so much to the table. It’s like, ‘I’ve got to write an album that’s as good as the first one’, we were just in a zone together.
“There was a definite conscious mindfulness of ‘the sophomore slump’ being a real thing, and that it would behoove us to come back strong. We were mindful but it wasn’t a burdensome pressure.”
By third album ‘Our Love To Admire’, the band were even more slick and assured. What do you remember about the band’s growth during the ‘Antics’ era and your time in the spotlight?
“It was when we came of age and shifted into a different mode. That was the pure, adolescent, unbridled party energy of ‘Let’s go through every cliche and have fun’. By album three, we’d flown a little closer to the fun and needed a recalibration. We’d grown up a little bit. If you don’t shift into new phases in these situations, then you’re not going to survive.
“You wouldn’t stay a productive band if you didn’t accommodate for that and stay on one track. We would have exploded. By the time of the third record, Carlos [Dengler, former bassist] was sober, some of the partying had been tempered down, some people were looking at it more like: ‘What do I want to prove as a more refined artist?’ There was a polish, but that was part of a natural evolution.”
Back then, you played The Cure‘s curated Curiosa Tour with Mogwai, The Rapture, Muse, Cooper Temple Clause, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Thursday and more. Did that inspire any friendly competition?
“It was an amazing bill, but I’ve never felt any competition in that way. It was different for me because I was part of this collective and had consummate confidence that I didn’t need to find better artists to work with. I was in as good a company as you could be, and was mindful of doing the best that I could do and that had fucking zero to do with what anyone else was doing.
“Except as far as inspiration. You watch a band like The Cure and you think, ‘Oh fuck, I want to write anything that’s anywhere as good as that!’ Robert Smith was a total bro. A lovely, lovely man. I really enjoyed my time hanging out with him.”
You’ve got the song ‘Direction’ coming out on the ‘Antics’ reissue. Would you argue that the ‘00s was the last great era of the B-side?
“That’s interesting! I don’t know if I could argue that, but you might be right. We did that song for the Six Feet Under soundtrack. We recorded that in Tony Bennett’s son’s studio. I had come straight from a night out. I hadn’t slept, I just got in a town car and headed up state with the other guys. I was just a fucking absolute mess!
“I really enjoy that song. It’s like a little Interpol jam. It was something we had written during sound checks that had a very cool feel. It doesn’t feel like a completely full, sophisticated, elaborate composition. It’s more like a mood-piece. It’s like a swath of an aspect of our sound. It’s an interesting little chamber. It’s more of vibe that we caught.”
Do you foresee Interpol giving the anniversary tour and reissue treatment to other albums, or is there just a certain affection for these first two records?
“I don’t know. Honestly, it might depend on who you ask in the band. Personally, I’d just read the room to see if there was a lot of demand, enthusiasm and love from the audience. It’s just a fun thing to do, so I’d be willing to do it for ‘Our Love To Admire’ or ‘El Pintor’ if it feels right.”
We also hear that you’re progressing with new material. How’s that going?
“Pretty great, to be honest with you. I’m pretty pumped about the stuff that we have worked on so far. That’s all I can really say: it’s an enthusiastic ‘yes’. It’s pretty cool.”
Your last album ‘The Other Side Of Make Believe’ really turned up the weird, in a way Interpol hadn’t done before. Will this next album be more extreme?
“That’s an interesting way of putting it. I really like the idea of ‘The Other Side Of Make Believe’ turning up the weird. I found that record to be really intimate. It stretches out in different ways and has new energies. We worked with Flood who is a very talented genius in the studio too.
“It sounding weird is probably one of the benefits of writing it more remotely. Having written in the lockdown, and then rehearsing a bit allowed for a certain characteristic. With this [next] record, we’re getting back to writing together in a room and my favourite tracks so far are quite high energy.”
Would you call it a ‘rock’ record?
“Yes, it’s a rock record.”
Did touring with Smashing Pumpkins recently inspire that rock direction?
“I just came away being inspired by the songwriting of that band, across the spectrum. It was good eye-opener for me.”
Do you think we could hear it next year?
“I think that would be possible. We’ve been on the road a lot and we might want to take a little bit of time to regroup and just be people, but it’s possible.”
Do you have any more solo work or side projects brewing? Maybe another Banks & Steelz record with RZA?
“The RZA thing is definitely always something I hope to resume, and I think the feeling is mutual. It’s just a matter of getting the time to do it. There is another thing I’ll be doing next which is a Berlin project I started a few years ago. I’m working on some solo stuff with some fellas in Berlin.
“Muzz will also return, that’s a going concern. I’ve been living in Berlin and Interpol have been on tour a lot which makes things difficult, but Josh [Kaufman] has been busy with the success of Bonny Light Horseman, Matt [Barrick] is busy with The Walkmen, everyone is busy.”
Have you tried RZA’s Sriracha hot sauce? It’s really good.
“No, but I should. He’s a good cook! He made me a veggie burger on a waffle once and it was the bomb.”
What’s your speciality?
“I have many, but paella is one of them!”
Check out the tracklist for the 20th anniversary editions of ‘Antics’ below:
1. ‘Next Exit’
2. ‘Evil’
3. ‘Narc’
4. ‘Take You on a Cruise’
5. ‘Slow Hands’
6. ‘Not Even Jail’
7. ‘Public Pervert’
8. ‘C’mere’
9. ‘Length of Love’
10. ‘A Time to Be Small’
11. ‘Direction’ (digital-only)
Interpol Live At Palacio De Los Deportes, 2005:
1. ‘Next Exit’
2. ‘Say Hello to the Angels’
3. ‘Narc’
4. ‘A Time to Be Small’
5. ‘Slow Hands’
6. ‘Public Pervert’
7. ‘Not Even Jail’
8. ‘Leif Erikson’
9. ‘Evil’
10. ‘Obstacle 1’
11. ‘Take You on a Cruise’
12. ‘PDA’
13. ‘NYC’
14. ‘Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down’
15. ‘Roland’
Interpol’s ‘Antics’ 20th anniversary tour continues through Europe before arriving in the UK next month. Visit here for tickets and more information. The band will then visit the US for a run of headline dates, and tickets can be found here.
The post Interpol look back on ‘Antics’ as they announce 20th anniversary reissue: “We flew a little closer to the sun” appeared first on NME.
Andrew Trendell
NME
